Seed of the Woman
The Seed of the Woman
This article is condensed from a sermon on the text of Genesis 3 (which can be found here), and is the first in a series titled “Seeing Christ in the Old Testament: Types, Shadows, Prophecies & Promises,” delivered at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship of Vassalboro, Maine.
Facing the Reality of a Fallen World
We go through various seasons in our life that force us to face reality. Seasons of good and blessing turn us to praise and the reality of God’s goodness and his nearness to us. Newlyweds, newborns, and new beginnings. Seasons of tragedy and despair force us to face a problem that no earthly good can resolve.
We know God is good, but we face the reality of a fallen world, and the great evils of this world tempt us to doubt God’s goodness. The reality that we face is that this world as we know it, though once created good, is under the curse of sin and the work of the great serpent.
In Genesis 3, we find the origin story of evil, but we also find the promise: Christ is the serpent-crushing Seed of the Woman who saves us from the curse and restores God’s very good design.
God's Very Good Design on Display (2:4-25)
Imagine a world without corrupt politicians. … without debt… without crime and without cancer… without poor healthcare and rising interest rates… without death and taxes... without pain and sorrow and without the long hard winter… without murder on the subway and rioting in the streets… without comatose and overdosing… without shame or guilt. Imagine a world where darkness only comes in a measure at night and is always kept at bay and overcome by the light… a world in which God walks with his people in the cool of the day and all things are operating in harmony. That world is Eden. That world was perfectly ordered by God and meticulously designed for his glory and our good. It is a very good design: God’s people in God’s place, living in God’s presence, and this very good design culminates in the first marriage.
God’s very good design was made for man (2:5-6). God made man from the ground to work it (2:7). Gods planted a garden at the center, from which very good things flow (2:8-14). God placed man in the garden to work and keep, given a very good command (2:15-17). God made woman from man as a helper in the work (2:18-22). God’s very good design was for man and woman to be one (2:23-25).
But Eden was never meant to last. Eden itself is a shadow of something greater. It is a shadow of the world to come. But we only come to know this or see this truth because of what happens next. God’s very good design faces its greatest challenge within marriage.
Man’s Disobedience Resulted in a Curse (3:1-13)
God’s very good design was now complete, but there was a snake in the garden. The serpent incites the woman to sin (3:1-5). The woman was deceived and the man followed (3:6-7). The Lord sought them out; they hid in their shame (3:8-10). The man was exposed and blamed the woman (3:11). The woman blames her sin on the serpent (3:12-13).
We are not in Eden anymore. In a land far from Eden, following the curse, all that was good went bad … or at least it now goes bad. Nothing was untouched. Nothing can be preserved. Nothing abides. The work once done in the cool of the day is now by the sweat of the brow. And no matter how hard we try, it seems like all is vanity. God’s very good design was now disrupted as man heeded the serpent.
God’s Promise Embedded in a Curse (3:14-19)
God’s purpose was not thwarted but was concealed in a curse. The serpent’s head will be crushed by the Seed of the woman and will bruise the heel of this one (3:14-15). The woman will endure pain in the process of fulfilling a part of God’s very good design in childbearing and will struggle with her man (3:16). Man will now toil at the work for which he was created and all in his line will return to the dust in the death of the body (3:17-19). With the curse of sin and all it entails, the question we are left with is:
What Will Become of God’s Very Good Design? (3:20-24)
What is left hanging in this passage is what would become of God’s very good design? With God’s people banished from the place of God’s presence, evil would now reign, and all were consigned to death—physical and spiritual. The immaterial aspects of the curse—spiritual death and separation from God—were immediate. The temporal aspects—suffering, toil, sickness, and eventual bodily death—were prolonged. A glimmer of hope in God’s mercy to clothe the man and his wife (3:20-21). Judgement is rendered and man is driven from the place of God’s presence (3:22-24). God’s people, banished from God’s place, removed from God’s presence.
The rest of the story of the Old Testament looks forward to a Day when God will intervene and make things right. When would this serpent-crushing ‘Seed’ of the woman come? When would God’s people be restored to the place of God’s presence? When the Messiah—the promised Seed of the woman—did come, he did not usher in the kind of ‘restoration’ the people expected [“Will you at this time restore the kingdom?” (Acts 1:6)].
Like the work of Adam that brought the curse, the work of Christ would have immediate effects on the immaterial aspects of God’s created order, but the physical aspects would be long in time. The moment that Christ breathed his last, the curtain was torn. The moment he rose from the grave, death was swallowed up in victory. The moment Christ ascended, he began his reign. As he promised, he poured out his Spirit upon his church, that we may reign with him in his kingdom on earth.
Even now, those trusting in Christ have been redeemed and “in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses” (Eph 1:7), because “he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pet 2:24). Yet, even now, we—along with all of creation—await with groaning in eager anticipation for the redemption of our bodies (Rom 8:23). How long, O Lord!
Facing Reality from a Redeemed Perspective
Those trusting in Christ face a greater reality for which we long. We no longer have to imagine a world without sin and death because that place has been prepared for us. Our King, the Serpent-crushing, Seed of the Woman has come and dealt the death blow and his victory awaits. Our Savior—the Serpent-crushing Seed of the Woman—is waiting the Day when he shall come with trumpet sound and bring all the ransomed home to glory in a place far greater than the Garden of Eden!
What Christ has accomplished is more than a restoration of the very good design of the Garden. What Christ has come to fulfill and to bring to completion is far greater than what Adam and Eve could ever imagine. The first man, made in God’s image, was able not to sin in God’s presence. His choosing of the one thing that was forbidden brought death to all. The last Adam was sinless so that we may be made in his image and not able to sin in his eternal presence. His death brings life to all who call upon his name.
God’s people will be restored to the place of his presence eternally, never to be expelled, never to be separated from our Lord and Creator. The war has been won. Even so, as long as we are in this body, the battle rages on.
Paul reminds the us that the church is not immune. And in this warning is also given a promise that brings us back to the Garden: Romans 16:17-20… “I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
The gathered church is the greatest display of God’s glory on earth and it is not without its battles. We must remain vigilant and continue fighting the deceiver and pressing against the forces of evil. Yet we fight this fight from the victory that has already been won! The head of the serpent has been crushed and will be crushed beneath our feet! We know God’s peace and presence among us even now. We see God’s good design in the fruit of the Spirit at work in his Church. We see the glimpses of glory in the everyday because we have been given new eyes to see. We were created good, we have fallen badly, but in Christ, we are a new creation. We no longer hide ourselves when the Lord comes looking for us.
